General Court rejects Apple's challenge to DMA gatekeeper designation

The General Court of the European Union dismissed in full the three actions brought by Apple Inc. and Apple Distribution International Ltd against the European Commission over the designation of the tech group as a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The judgment, delivered on 8 July 2026, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 24 August 2026 under reference C/2026/4402.

The ruling upholds the Commission’s decisions on Apple’s iMessage messaging service and its App Store, confirming that both are core platform services subject to the DMA’s obligations. The Court ordered Apple to bear its own costs and to pay those incurred by the Commission in all three cases.

The three actions

The judgment joins and disposes of three separate cases brought by Apple under Article 263 TFEU:

• Case T-1079/23 — seeking annulment of Commission Decision C(2023) 6077 final of 5 September 2023 opening a market investigation into Apple’s iMessage under Articles 16(1) and 17(3) of the DMA.
• Case T-1080/23 — seeking partial annulment of Commission Decision C(2023) 6100 final of 5 September 2023 designating Apple as a gatekeeper under Article 3 of the DMA.
• Case T-214/24 — seeking annulment of Commission Implementing Decision C(2024) 785 final of 12 February 2024 closing the market investigation opened by the earlier decision.

The DMA is Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (OJ 2022 L 265, p. 1). It imposes a set of obligations on the largest digital platforms designated as gatekeepers.

Interveners and outcome

Several parties intervened in support of the Commission, reflecting the broad institutional and industry interest in the case:

• The French Republic, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in Case T-1080/23.
• The Free Software Foundation Europe eV and the Coalition for App Fairness in Case T-1080/23.
• The Federal Republic of Germany in Case T-214/24.

The Court dismissed the actions in their entirety and ordered Apple Inc. to pay the costs incurred by the Coalition for App Fairness in Case T-1080/23, while the Parliament, the Council, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Free Software Foundation Europe eV were ordered to bear their own costs.

Impact

The judgment is a significant confirmation of the Commission’s enforcement approach under the DMA, validating both the designation of Apple as a gatekeeper and the closure of the iMessage market investigation. For app-store operators, messaging providers and other digital platforms, the ruling clarifies that the DMA’s interoperability and fairness obligations apply to Apple’s core services, shaping the competitive landscape for all operators in the European digital market.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, C/2026/4402, 24 August 2026, C series (official reference: C/2026/4402).